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Frequently Asked Questions

What and who is Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities?

Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities has a broad membership of education, government, business, community and disability organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is an association comprising of organisations involved in the production, distribution and use of alternate format materials such as Braille, audio, large print and electronic text.

Who can be members of Round Table?

Members are drawn from Federal and State Government departments, direct service providers, production organisations, tertiary institutions, libraries, through to volunteer based community groups. Other organisations may be admitted to membership where Round Table believes it would be appropriate to do so.

What benefits do I get from being a member of Round Table?

Round Table seeks to assist its members by:

Fostering a spirit of cooperation and resource sharing among members

Setting standards and improving the range and accessibility of materials produced

Providing for consultation and/or action on matters of common concern

Representing the collective views of of members to appropriate bodies

Fostering consumer consultation

Round Table’s strength is the diversity of knowledge and experience in the production and use of alternate format materials embodied in its members. Round Table members can draw on this in-depth experience to assist them in the production and use of alternate formats, as well as to represent perspectives on the accessibility of material. Members are encouraged to network and share their experience to improve the quality and further availability of alternate format materials.

How often does Round Table on Information Access with Print Disabilities meet?

The main forum for Round Table members is the annual conference. The four day Conference Program includes the annual meeting of the Australian Braille Authority, a sub committee of the Round Table, on the first day. The remaining days consist of a mix of speaker’s presentations, workshops and the Round Table Annual General Meeting.

The Conference Program is designed to bring members up to date with new developments in all aspects of accessible material from Australia and overseas. A number of practical workshops are provided for practitioners and networking opportunities are provided with the Welcome Function and Conference Dinner.

For papers from past Conferences and information about this year’s Conference go to the Conference link.

How can I get involved?

You can get involved with Round Table by:

presenting papers at Conferences

participating in workshops

being a part of the Executive Committee and Working Parties

being a ‘Product Champion’

attending the Conferences

Is Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities an advocacy group?

No, it is not a formal advocacy group. The Mission of Round Table is: “To facilitate and influence the production and use of quality alternative formats for people with print disabilities by optimizing the evolving Round Table body of knowledge.”

However, Round Table is involved, through working group participation, in lobbying for adherence to standards in the production of accessible materials and in furthering the availability of these materials for people with a print disability.

What is the definition of a print disability?

People with a print disability are those who cannot obtain access to information in a print format because they:

are blind or vision impaired

have physical disabilities which limit their ability to hold or manipulate information in a printed form

have perceptual or other disabilities which limit their ability to follow a line of print or which affect their concentration